Whit Friday Returns!
2022 sees the return of one of the most incredible spectacles in brass banding. Known to many as ‘the greatest free show on earth’ Whit Friday lives up to, and arguably exceeds, that billing year on year.
Well, not every year. You will not need reminding that due to the pandemic the contests have not taken place for two years.
But on Friday 10th June 2022 the hills and valleys of the Pennines, and the towns and villages to the east of Manchester will resound with brass once more, as bands from around the world descend on the famous villages.
Saddleworth
As excitement builds ahead of the first contest for two years, Delph organiser Mary Rodgers is drawing on her experience to ensure things run smoothly. “It’s just another year", she explains. "After 40+ helping organise the contest it just becomes a habit. However, it has felt strange after two years’ absence and a bit like starting all over again.” There will certainly be plenty of work to do though as the bands descend on the area, with Delph alone preparing to host 80 bands. And whilst travel restrictions will impact the number of bands from abroad attending, at least one will be present. “This is a band from Switzerland so we expect colourful uniforms, flags and fantastic playing”. Above all, Mary is looking forward to “meeting old friends from the world of banding and hearing the traditional street marches as well as the main contest marches”.
As you might expect, Mary has her ear to the ground and reports that “some big names are ‘champing at the bit’ to get out on the night”. Among the biggest is the Black Dyke Band.
Big Names
The Whit Friday celebrations extend beyond the contest in the evening. For those local to the area, it is a full day of events and celebrations. Musical Director of the Black Dyke Band, Prof. Nicholas Childs, himself a Saddleworth Resident, explains “Many people say Saddleworth is the Mecca of brass bands and the most important day of the year is Whit Friday. The day starts with a religious service followed by parades where the church banners are proudly displayed, and bands lead the congregation in the singing of hymns. Later in the afternoon the sport of the day starts. Like the FA Cup where non league clubs have the chance of competing against Manchester United, youth and community bands can compete against Black Dyke".
And that is exactly what will be happening this year. Beyond the obvious, part of the draw for people wanting to listen to Black Dyke at this year’s contest is that they do not compete every year. “Black Dyke would like to compete every year at Whit Friday however we have a conscience to many of our players who support their local community bands” says Prof. Childs. “For example, Black Dyke’s long serving tuba player, Philip Goodwin, has been with Black Dyke for 38 years but he is also the conductor of the Delph Band, where he has been the conductor for 40 years. Competing every other year allows my players to enjoy both sides of the fence”.
In the years that they do compete though, the band tend to do very well including winning 6/8 villages in 2012 and a remarkable 8/8 in 2009. For Prof. Childs though, it is not all about winning. “Highlights are genuinely playing for your friends and neighbours who rarely have the chance of listening to Black Dyke playing in concerts. When your coach approaches the village you can see people who were leaving turning around as they don’t want to miss the chance of listening to Black Dyke”. Although this doesn’t always go smoothly, for example “a few years ago in Delph there were so many people crowding the street, the only way for Black Dyke to march down was for the police on horseback to walk in front of the band”.
Such scenes are part of what makes Whit Friday such a unique event, but does Prof. Childs think that Covid will continue to impact the contest? "Yes I am sure there will be an impact after Covid” he says, “but on a positive I believe people will also gain more confidence with this event being outside; it will have less impact on spreading”. There will however be some noticeable changes as “contests have an earlier closing time which will prove to be a challenge trying to compete in as many contests as previous years”. This won’t stop the members of Black Dyke turning out and enjoying themselves though as Prof Childs says “after a two year hiatus it is great to have the biggest free show back on the calendar”.
Tameside
Of course, the bands will not just be descending on Saddleworth as Whit Friday extends beyond the handful of villages up in the Pennines. Contests will also be taking place further West, in the towns and villages of Tameside.
With up to eighty bands estimated to be playing, the residents of Tameside are just as excited to have their contests back as their counterparts in Saddleworth and are treating this year's contests as “a celebration of the brass, a celebration of our heritage and celebration of the resilience of our communities. The Whit Friday Band Contests are a real highlight in Tameside’s Cultural Events Calendar, the absence has left a real hole. Although the online contests organised by current Tameside Open Champions Fodens band were brilliant, the energy and enthusiasm shown by both the bands and members of the community is something that cannot be replicated digitally”.
Reigning Champions
And it will not need to be, because this year Fodens will be back and competing for the overall Championship again. Band Manager and Principal Cornet, Mark Wilkinson, explains that “Fodens have always supported Tameside and due to being very successful on this circuit, have continued with this plan. We always aim to compete at all venues in Tameside and time permitting, venture to Saddleworth”. So why do Fodens prefer to compete at the Tameside contest? “We originally chose Tameside over Saddleworth due to less bands being on this particular circuit meaning that we are able to compete at more contests” explains Mark. “The prize money on the Tameside side is less than Saddleworth, however, we would prefer to compete at more contests rather than spending time waiting to play at venues!”
Having competed at 19 consecutive Whit Fridays, winning 18 of them, Fodens have, as we all have, missed the contests and last year ran their virtual event which had a positive impact not only in filling the gap left by the cancellation of the in-person events but also in ensuring this year’s contests could take place. “Last year over 100 bands supported our contest and bands were asked to pay a donation to enter. Our event was then broadcast on line with viewers also asked to make a donation. The event raised £4000 with all the proceeds being split evenly between the Tameside / Saddleworth Organising Committees. Due to both the Saddleworth and Tameside venues being unable to fund raise (due to covid) we were extremely pleased to have been informed that due to the generosity of bands and supporters, the amount raised would enable venues to host their contests this year”. More than anything, Fodens are just excited to be back out on the circuit. “The atmosphere is always fantastic and we enjoy catching up with friends and listening to bands of various standards enjoying their music making”.
Adjudicators
Needless to say then, that the standard of playing across both contests will be high, and the tough job of separating so many performances falls to a small group of people who will spend their day in caravans, tents and upstairs rooms. The adjudicators have the mammoth, and unenviable, task of separating out each band and this can be quite a challenge. Jonathan Pippen will be adjudicating on the Saddleworth circuit, taking his position at Scouthead explains “judging Whit Friday is the ultimate adjudication work out, in terms of concentration, stamina and remaining objective. No other band contest I’ve worked on either with set test or own choice pieces comes near it. Writing so many adjudications in the 8-9 hours the contest runs for is physically and mentally demanding, most of all in ensuring the comments are always positive and encouraging”. Major Paul Norley, who will be in the box at Stalybridge in Tameside agrees. “It is the sheer variety that enthrals me most about the 'Whit Fridays - both the performance standard and plethora of repertoire”. And it is the sense of community in banding that makes adjudicating special for Paul. “I feel that I am giving something back to the movement that directly facilitated my whole career and life experiences,” he says. “If a set of adjudication remarks helps to achieve improvement (I am always optimistic that Bands do read them properly once the dust of a contest has settled) or encourages performers to 'stick with it', we have genuinely achieved something positive”.
With such an enormous amount of concentration required, it is important to be prepared and have a plan for how to tackle the sheer volume of performances. “I tend to have a listen to some marches that I know will come up, and some that most likely won't,” Jonathan explains. “I play through some of the solos, openings and some of the accompanying figures to remember first hand the articulation and style that’s needed to make the best performances from inside the band and the corners”. Paul takes a similar approach. “I shall be refamiliarising myself with the various rhythmic patterns common in the Contest March - it is often lackadaisical attention to rhythmic detail that sets performances apart - if the music is not flowing correctly, it is difficult to produce a holistic satisfactory delivery and it can be surprising how Bands can misinterpret quadruple and duple time signatures. Generally, it is the musicality of a performance that sets it apart from others - rhythmic accuracy, dynamic detail, tone, balance, tuning, intonation, blend, stylistic understanding (and many other aspects) all contribute, but in essence a Band that is in time, in tune and producing their best possible sound will always do well.
So just how does one person keep an accurate score of so many bands? Paul explains “I maintain a matrix at the 'Whit Fridays' on a sliding scale that changes with every performance - after one Band I have a winner, after two Bands I have 1st and 2nd etc, etc - all the way to 60th if required. I always make sure that this is clearly and definitively collated for the organisers - it is then up to them to sort the Bands into their various sections and ensure that the prizes find the correct homes!”. Interestingly, Jonathan will be taking a very similar approach “I use three systems when I’m judging Whit Friday '' he explains. These are “a written adjudication the bands see, a sheet that’s just notes for me and a spreadsheet which I enter each band on with a score immediately after they have played. This enables me to keep track and to place each band approximately as we go along, using the scoring system to separate similar standard performances as we go. To try and place 70 bands at the end of the day with any consistency would be impossible (for me anyway!)”.
It is not just the volume of performing bands that is unique to Whit Friday as many bands will be playing the same, or similar, marches on the stand. Both adjudicators though will be taking it in their stride. Jonathan explains that “the number of bands and their choice of marches isn’t really a problem for me, but what can be a problem is when a band chooses a March that’s too difficult. On many occasions at Scouthead a fine performance of a simple march will come in much higher than a less well executed version of a much harder march by a similar standard band. If you can play Slaidburn perfectly, with style, contrast, and well played solos, why struggle through The Wizard? Paul is in agreement and explains that, whilst the marches may be the same, there is always something different to find. “I have always experienced a wide variety of marches at the 'Whit Fridays' he explains. There are many to choose from but equally real compositional stalwarts that always show a band at its very best. Even if there is a run of repeats (the miniature masterpiece that is 'Punchinello' springs to mind!), every performance is different, has aspects of merit and sets itself apart from all the other deliveries”.
Whatever happens, it is sure to be a great evening. ”My expectations will be very similar to previous years” says Paul who hopes to see “some great music performed in a unique environment and a truly British cultural event. The 'Whit Fridays' are a quirky yet glorious musical occasion; as a boxed adjudicator you never know what to expect until the first bar of the contest march (in itself, a truly unique British compositional musical genre) - will it be the exquisite precision of a Championship Section Band firing on all cylinders, an enthusiastic but possibly under rehearsed delivery from a 'Scratch Band' or a grass roots performance of a Youth Band delivering 'Slaidburn' at FF with such commitment that it hits you straight between the eyes? I enjoy all of them immensely and would never suggest a change to this variety filled format.
Without doubt, the two-year Covid 19 will have an impact. On the negative side, I would expect that some Bands will not feel ready to attend due to a shortage of players or simply because they cannot yet meet their own high-performance expectations. That said, there is nothing to lose in attending the 'Whit Fridays' - no risk of demotion through a low placing - so hopefully Bands will feel emboldened and set out to enjoy delivering a performance to the best of their abilities in the most hospitable of arenas. Jonathan agrees “I don’t imagine that the 2 year gap will have an overly negative impact on the contest in terms of standard. It may take players a moment to remember how it feels but I’m sure by the second contest it will be like riding a bike. My only real concern would be if bands don’t turn out in the numbers of the past. I’m hoping for 70 + bands at Scouthead!”
And Paul sums it up rather nicely “Whatever the attendance and outcome, I am sure that the 'Whit Fridays' this year will be a great event and potentially the catalyst for many significant local Brass Band achievements”.
A Great Spectacle
So, after two years this unique and wonderful banding event is going to be a treat for all involved. The preparation is done, the excitement is building. Whatever the weather, the crowds will be back and the 'Greatest Free Show on Earth' will roll back into town once more.
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